Questions And Answers On The Avatamsaka Sutra

It is a translation of the Silla master Uisang’s 義湘 (625-702) lecture compiled by his disciple Jitong 智通 (655-?) in the question-answer format on major topics of Hwaeom doctrines. Uisang, after learning from the second Chinese Huayan patriarch Zhiyan 智儼, laid the foundation of Silla Hwaeom by building Buseoksa 浮石寺 Temple and teaching students. His works include the Hwaeom ilseung beopgyedo 華嚴一乘法界圖 (Chart of the Dharma-realm of the One Vehicle of Hwaeom) and the Baekhwa doryang barwon mun 白花道場發願文 (Vow at the White Lotus Enlightenment Site). Jitong, one of Uisang’s ten main disciples, coming from low social status, compiled the Chudong gi 錐洞記, which recorded Uisang’s 90-day lecure on the Hwaeomgyeong in Chudong on Sobaeksan Mountain. The Hwaeomgyeong mundap is often regarded as a different edition of the Chudong gi, through which Uisang’s thought can be seen. The Hwaeomgyeong mundap records 160 questions and answers in two volumes. It was known as the third Chinese Huayan patriarch Fazang 法藏 who also studied with Uisang. However, Japanese and Korean scholars began to argue that it was Uisang’s work in the 1980s and, recently, Uisang’s authorship was finally confirmed. Along with the Hwaeom ilseung beopgyedo, it reflects Uisang as the Hwaeom thinker who also emphasized practice, including his view on the theories of seonggi 性起 (nature origination) and yeon’gi 緣起 (dependent origination). It shows some of the features of Korean Hwaeom studies, also having a huge influence in Japan. The appendix of this English translation includes the images of the original text that professor Kim Cheon-hak at Dongguk University owns.

This book is a compilation of the author's lectures on the internet about Avatamsaka Sutra, or Flower Adornment Scriptures, a splendid and vivid description of the Buddha's world. The sutra reveals different causes and ways of cultivation and many great Bodhisattvas of Absolute enlightenment. All basic questions of life and death have their answers here as the author points out where human stands among all living beings under heaven and above earth, and why equality and harmony among all beings are so important to make this world a more suitable one for us human beings.

This project was designed to introduce the intellectual heritage of Korean Buddhism to all over the world by selecting representative works of Korean Buddhist tradition in various fields and publishing them in English. For a six-year period from 2018 to 2023, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism supervised the project with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and has been publishing ten representative Buddhist works in English. Buddhism has been the central axis of Korean culture and thought for thousands of years, and has exerted considerable influence to the present. Buddhism, which originated in India and settled here in Korea via China, maintains both local particularity and global universality. Various works on philosophy, history and culture of Korean Buddhism need to be published to introduce the originality and excellence of Korean Buddhism to the world. The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism previously published The Collected Works of Modern Korean Buddhism(2017): English translations of carefully selected Korean Buddhist works as part of the Globalization Project of Korean Buddhism. Succeeding and further developing upon the previous undertaking, this project aims to inform the world of Korean Buddhism, which not only served as an indispensable spiritual asset for Korean people but also provided them with the locus of universal discourse. The ultimate goal of this project is to expand the worldwide base for Korean studies, promote the globalization of Korean Buddhism, and improve the “brand equity” of Korean tradition.

The Buddhist Answers contains detailed answers for the critical philosophical questions asked about Buddhism. This book is a result of extreme hard work of the author, researching into the lengthy Tripitaka, the doctrine of Lord Buddha. This book intends to establish a rational basis to the Buddhist beliefs. Lord Buddha preached in Jnanasaara Samuccaya' that, As the wise test gold by burning, cutting and rubbing it (on a piece of touchstone), so are you to accept my words after examining them and not merely out of regard to me.' The author did his level best to avoid personal opinions but to provide coherent answers by directly referring to various discourses by Lord Buddha in Tripitaka. This book can play a vital role in the international propagation of Buddhism. Buddhist missionaries can use this book as a handbook to answer the various philosophical questions which they encounter.

This book provides a comprehensive but concise introduction to Chinese Buddhism and the study of Buddhism in China: their Indic roots, their Sinicization, the development and philosophies of the three central lineages, the natural exchange between Buddhist cultures and schools of thought, the foundations of Buddhist studies in China, and the chief schools and sects in Chinese Buddhism as well as their characteristics and ethos.

This book is part of an initiative in cooperation with renowned Chinese publishers to make fundamental, formative, and influential Chinese thinkers available to a western readership, providing absorbing insights into Chinese reflections of late, and offering a chance to grasp today’s China. In their influential book Handbook of the History of Religions in China, Zhongjian Mou and Jian Zhang present a panorama of the religions existing in China through time. In their fascinating History, they delineate the emergence and development of Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity and explore the roles they played in Chinese society and the interrelations between them. In China, also due to the encompassing Confucian idea of “living together harmoniously while maintaining differences,” religions—including newly arrived ones—came closer together than anywhere else in the world and reached a unique level of peaceful societal coexistence. Despite many frictions and conflicts, communication and reconciliation were indisputably predominant in China throughout history. Buddhism was peacefully introduced into China and, later on, a harmonious, symbiotic syncretism of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism developed—an exemplary process of how a diverse set of different religions can complement each other and contribute to a better life.